Re: Smoking
gun

: Today, with the possibility of war upon us, I have heard the
phrase "smoking gun" fall from the lips of many news reporters, radio personalities,
etc. Has the meaning of "smoking gun" changed over the years? What was it's original
intention? Thanks!

SMOKING GUN - "incontrovertible evidence; the proof of guilt
that precipitates resignations. 'The chaplain stood with a smoking pistol in his
hand,' wrote A. Conan Doyle in a Sherlock Holmes story . Such a stance is
generally considered suggestive of obvious (sometimes too obvious) guilt. During
the Watergate investigation, Nixon defenders insisted that while much impropriety
could be observed, no proof of presidential obstruction of justice - 'no smoking
gun' - had been found. Then, on the release of the June 23, 1972, tape, H. R.
Haldeman was shown to have said to the President that 'the FBI is not under control'
and that the CIA could be used to block the FBI investigation. When Haldeman said,
'And you seem to think the thing to do is to get them the FBI to stop?,' the president
replied, 'Right, fine.' Representative Barber Conable, a conservative Republican,
said that the evidence on the June 23 tape 'looked like a smoking gun.' The term,
which had been 'in the air' for months, was widely quoted. Within days the President
resigned, and the simile's incontrovertible-evidence meaning was reinforced."
From "Safire's New Political Dictionary" by William Safire (Random House, New
York, 1993).

It's similar to:

CAUGHT RED-HANDED - "'To be taken with red hand'
in ancient times was to be caught in the act, like a murderer, his hands red with
his victim's blood. The use of 'red hand' in this sense goes back to 15th century
Scotland and Scottish law. Scott's 'Ivanhoe' has the first recorded use of 'taken
red-handed' for someone apprehended in the act of committing a crime. Not long
after, the expression became more common as 'caught red-handed.'" From "Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins" by Robert Hendrickson (Facts on File, New York, 1997),
Page 135-136.